Ezra as the Corrupter of the Torah? Re-Assessing Ibn Ḥazm’s Role in the Long History of an Idea

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Ezra as the Corrupter of the Torah? Re-Assessing Ibn Ḥazm’s Role in the Long History of an Idea

This article explores the originality, quality and influence on non-Muslims of a particular aspect of the work of the Andalusī Muslim Ibn Ḥazm (b. 384/994, d. 456/1064). The focus is the use of the motif of Ezra as corrupter of the Torah, and is examined by means of sustained engagement with the portrayal of Ibn Ḥazm by Hava Lazarus-Yafeh in her influential study, Intertwined Worlds. Building on but also questioning her work, the article examines positive and negative portrayals of Ezra, and explores possible Muslim predecessors of Ibn Ḥazm as a critic of Ezra. The originality and quality of Ibn Ḥazm’s work is questioned, through piecing together often familiar evidence so as to form a new picture of Ibn Ḥazm’s contribution. Lazarus-Yafeh’s suggestion that Ibn Ḥazm directly influenced non-Muslim thought, and therefore the rise of European sceptical Biblical scholarship, via the rabbi Ibn Ezra (b. 1094. d. c. 1167), is also shown to be unlikely.

This article explores the originality, quality and influence on non-Muslims of a particular aspect of the work of the Andalusī Muslim Ibn Ḥazm (b. 384/994, d. 456/1064). The focus is the use of the motif of Ezra as corrupter of the Torah, and is examined by means of sustained engagement with the portrayal of Ibn Ḥazm by Hava Lazarus-Yafeh in her influential study, Intertwined Worlds. Building on but also questioning her work, the article examines positive and negative portrayals of Ezra, and explores possible Muslim predecessors of Ibn Ḥazm as a critic of Ezra. The originality and quality of Ibn Ḥazm’s work is questioned, through piecing together often familiar evidence so as to form a new picture of Ibn Ḥazm’s contribution. Lazarus-Yafeh’s suggestion that Ibn Ḥazm directly influenced non-Muslim thought, and therefore the rise of European sceptical Biblical scholarship, via the rabbi Ibn Ezra (b. 1094. d. c. 1167), is also shown to be unlikely.

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Ezra as the Corrupter of the Torah? Re-Assessing Ibn Ḥazm’s Role in the Long History of an Idea